« Purple Heart may not be in order for PTSD, but good care is | Main | Charlie Chaplin: A Story of Extraordinary Resilience »
January 17, 2009
Mental-health crisis centers, suicide hotlines report surge in calls due to financial crisis
USA Today (1/12, Elias) reports that a number of "mental-health crisis and suicide hotlines are reporting a surge in calls from Americans feeling despair over financial losses."
According to Lanny Berman, executive director of the Washington-based American Association of Suicidology, it remains "unknown if the economic meltdown will lead to more suicides," but "concern centers on rising unemployment...because the unemployed have two to four times the suicide rate of employed adults."
In addition, Berman notes "a strong link between humiliating losses and committing suicide. 'Losing your job, losing your home -- these are such major losses,'" he explained. Across the country, "areas with suicide hotlines" are "reporting increases in callers since the economy slid."
Meanwhile, in other places, "callers with mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, say loss of insurance and cutbacks in public-health programs are preventing them from getting medications."
Related Links:
- " Economy prompts more calls to suicide hotlines," Marilyn Elias, USA Today, January 12, 2009.
Posted by admin at January 17, 2009 12:33 PM